Times Proposal
by Alic3Paig3
Summary: Clockwork gives Danny a choice to change the past in the face of his doubts. Does Danny really want to change the events of his own life? Phantom Planet Compliant, One-Shot


Just a quick little one shot I needed to get out of my system. I may turn it into an actual series later but for now, it's gonna stay a one shot.

Danny Fenton was recently revealed to be the human half of the widely known Danny Phantom. It was a slow process on getting everyone to accept him but his friends and family made it easier for the boy.

The boy's parents were the most shocked but also the most accepting. They loved their son and a genetic mutation wasn't going to make them hate their son. Of course, they did a lot of apologizing for the way they chased him around before they'd known but they showed Danny how willing they are to help him when they altered the ghost shields and Spector deflectors to not hinder him.

Clockwork paused the scene on the screen before him and waved his staff to create a portal to the boy whose life he'd just been watching.

Danny immediately tensed for battle when his ghost sense went off but when he saw Clockwork he relaxed. His parents, who had reached for their ecto-weapons, lowered them cautious of this unknown ghost but they trusted their son not to let his guard down in front of dangerous enemies. Sam and Tucker completely put away their weapons and smiled slightly at Clockwork. They knew how close Danny had gotten to Clockwork and respected that even if they themselves would never be that close to the cryptic ghost.

"Daniel, come with me for a moment." Clockwork opened another portal back to his towers viewing room and stepped through holding the portal open until Daniel stepped through as well.

"I take it they are still wary of your ghost allies?" The sentence carried the inflection of a question when it was more of a statement but Danny knew the Master of Time had the answer already.

He smiled and explained anyway, "They're working on it. I can't blame them; they've spent all this time thinking ghosts were evil and for them to now be showing up to speak with me openly it's a shock for them."

Clockwork nodded. While he seemed as though he didn't care Danny picked up the subtle cues that the old ghost had to express true emotion.

"Daniel, are you happy?"

A bit taken aback Danny stuttered a reply, "well yeah! I mean, of course, they all accept me!" However, they both recognized the slightly defensive nature of his tone.

Clockwork stared at the teen intently, "I'm trying to be happy. The ghost attacks have decreased, I'm not being bullied, my parents accept me! I should be happy! But…. I'm not." Daniel's voice raised to a near shout before it dropped back down to a whisper on his last sentence.

He continued in that soft whisper, "I miss being able to fly freely, now someone's always with me. Asking me about my abilities or questioning me. I miss being invisible now everyone wants a part of Danny Phantom," the teen spit out his own name in disgust. "I don't feel like Danny Fenton anymore. I feel as if I should always be flying and walking around as Phantom. It's too much sometimes. I miss the anonymity I had before. I miss being Daniel Fenton."

Clockwork laid a hand on the young halfas shoulder, "That is why I asked you here. The observants have given me permission to offer you a chance to change the past. I can go back and remove the moments where people found out Fenton and Phantom were the same person, but then you'd return to how things once were."

In shock, Danny stood gaping, "You can do that? And nothing else would change?" Danny was smart he knew the idea of chaos theory, messing with time was dangerous but he trusted the old ghost not to lie to him.

"Everything would remain the same, people would just never have figured out Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton were the same person." Clockwork gestured for the boy to watch the screen.

 _Jazz looked in horror at the crashed plane, when her parents repeatedly asked her where Danny was. She pointed to the flaming wreckage with a sob, revealing Danny's secret._

 _A call was heard for people to turn and watch as millions of ghosts flew from the ghost zone, led by Danny Phantom, and went to the antenna built to amplify their powers._

 _In the fray people forgot all about Jazz's unspoken revelation but as they all rushed outside to thank the teen ghost the Fenton's held back._

 _Danny Phantom landed with Danny Fenton right beside him. He released the human teen and Fenton rushed over and hugged his parents when everyone else congratulated Phantom._

 _"Danny!" Jazz looked at her little brother in shock, how could he be in two places at once?_

 _Phantom led all the ghost back into the portal just as it closed when Fenton remained behind with his family,_

 _Danny tugged on his sister sleeve and pulled her a few steps away so they could talk privately, "I can make duplicates of myself, I'll come up with a cover for mom and dad about why I went to help Phantom but it isn't time for me to reveal my secret yet."_

 _Jazz hugged her younger brother before the both of them were tackled to the ground by_ _Sam and Tucker._

Clockwork ended the scene, "You went on to explain that Phantom needed your help to collect the ghosts in the Ghost Zone but you knew your parents would never agree to you putting yourself in so much danger so you tricked them and only confided in Sam, Tucker, and Jazz at to where you were really going to be."

Danny nodded understanding everything. Everything would be the same, Sam would still be his girlfriend but only his two best friends and sister would know the truth of Danny Phantom.

"I can't." The raven-haired teen spoke softly, "They deserve to know. I should've told everyone a long time ago. Not to mention time isn't something I really want to mess with." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

Clockwork chuckled as well, he knew Daniel would make the right choice. Damn those Observants and their tests for the young ghost.

"Alright. I won't be able to offer this again. You're absolutely sure?"

"I'm sure Clockwork. Messing with time is your job, not mine. Besides, I've dealt with worse before I'll be able to handle this."

Clockwork smiled at his young charge and with a wave of his staff sent him on his way back to his friends and family.

"All is all it should be." With a deep bellied chuckle, Clockwork returned to his viewing screen to watch as Danny answered the questions thrown at him. Daniel may not realize it now but soon he'd be called upon to handle time itself.


End file.
